


Ethereal Circumstance

by jackirin0531



Series: Circumstances [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Bullying, Denial, Gay Romance, High School Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Instruments, Lots of denial, M/M, Major Character Injury, Major Injury, Mild Language, Original work - Freeform, Popularity, Rich Family, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Smart Kids, Soccer, Sports, Teen Angst, Tennis, angsty, asian problems, but they make stupid life choices, everyone has problems they need to face, family owns a company, gay angst, lots of sass, parental standards, private schools, realistic scenarios exaggerated by text, representational characters, slice of life?, slightly exaggerated to illustrate a point, some mild language, these are my children please be gentle with me, varsity sports, we have cute school uniforms though, whasian problems, whasians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-11 12:48:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11714715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackirin0531/pseuds/jackirin0531
Summary: From a perfect family come troubled youth, in more ways than one.Everett Bjorn tells the story, but there's much more than meets the eye.High school can be rougher than people give it credit for.





	1. Prologue, Prima Facie

The day is 20 July at 15:03. 

A flash: clear tears swell in stiff faces. Another flash: the tears threaten to fall. A third flash, and composure is lost. 

Family portraiture for the Bjorn's has always been such a process. Three pairs of adolescent eyes blinked simultaneously, accompanied by soft whines. Two adults simply brushed away their tears and each placed a strict hand on the shoulders of the two youngest. It should be understood by now that the flash was always excessively bright. Seemingly so to fully capture each refined feature of the five faces presented in the camera's lense. 

As such, the surface of the family had always been painfully perfect: beautiful faces, fluid bodies, practiced manners, and natural elegance rivaled by very few. This is not to say they are shallow people, rather each perfection is complimented by a respecting imperfection. The illusion of strength of those who are truly weak.


	2. Diaphanous Beginnings (25 August, 05:28)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everett is a hot mess in the morning.
> 
> Lucas and Elena like to team up on Everett too.

"...." 

'And there it is folks! Everett Bjorn, with a final ace, wins the tournament!'

"Ev."

'The crowd’s going wild, the underdog actually did it!'

"...."

"Ev!"

'His family is on the court now, showering him with hugs and kisses!'

"....hng..."

"Everett wake up!"

"Hnn five more hours Ma."

"I swear."

"....swearing is bad..."

And with that, I was soon on the floor groaning. Sitting up with my back to the intruder, I angrily disheveled my hair more and (almost actually) snapped my neck to unleash a vicious glare at the sinner ready to poison them with the venom of my fury- oh. Well, shit. Woops. It wasn’t “Ma” dear reader, but the imposing silhouette of another. I gulped down the rest of the word I threatened to spill earlier, and hid my fear behind a wavering smile. 

"What's up bro? Haha...." I added a nervous laugh at a failed (and rather pathetic) attempt of humor.

My older brother simply cocked an eyebrow at the poor 17 year old me on the floor and sighed, "It's five thirty, idiot." He added the insult for extra measure. How sweet of him. 

My eyes had widened and I expressed in panic, "Luke the heck man?! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?! Fuuuuuhh I'm gunna be so late-" 

I realized the error of my ways as soon as the words left my mouth. Actually wanting to escape his wrath from my petty complaining, I quickly sprinted the hell outta there to the bathroom to “wash off” (by this I mean hide for my life).

I listened very closely for any sign of Luke following me into the bathroom. I heard none. I began to slowly start cleaning up, on high alert in case the beast decided to sneak attack. After about a minute, I concluded the coast was clear and looked in the mirror for the first time today. From top to bottom as always, I declared it impossible to save my (disgusting) auburn hair based on my reflection. I decided to just proceeded with the rest of the my morning ritual. 

Finally I feel his presence again. 

I could practically hear Lucas rolling his eyes at me as he sighed, and I barely actually hear a, "I tried to, dimwit." What a sweet pet name he has for me.

Knowing him, he probably closed his eyes pinching the bridge of his nose. It’s going to be a hellish day for him I bet. Poor guy, I can feel it in my bones already. 

I heard Luke walk out of the room down the hall (damn he has a loud step). He’s prolly going to join Elly for breakfast. 

I faced the mirror again and leaned forward, inspecting my abused pale yellow ochre (look I know my colors okay don’t judge) skin. It’s actually pretty decent now, just some acne scarring around my temples and redness on my cheeks from recent pimples. I need to thank Elly for sharing her facial wash with me later. 

I reach for the toothbrush and paste to my left blindly, still keeping my eyes critical to every detail of my face. Game plan; throw shirt on bed while opening closet door. Kick off pants and pull on undershirt. Get socks and pull on. Shimmy on uniform pants and proceed to button up dress shirt. Grab blazer and tie while walking out. Good plan Everett good plan. 

The plan was executed flawlessly. Okay, I maybe possibly tripped while putting my pants on. But that isn't important. 

Time to sprint to breakfast.

I approached the kitchen table, and picked up a bit of the conversation. 

"Elena," I heard Luke starting his rant, oh boy.

“Why, just. Why. Why does Ev have to be such a pain in the ass in the mornings. I swear one of these days-" he seemed to be cut off by Elly's giggling.

"I-I'm sorry Lucas but... it's just too funny when you get angry at Ev,” she calmed herself down. 

Luke simply clicked his tongue, "Yeah yeah, but really, he needs," he seriously emphasized the word 'needs', "to stop wasting his life on Author of Our Kinks or whatever all night."

Oh no he did not just. Time to come out of hiding and put him in his place. 

"How. Dare. You insult. AO3. And it’s Archive of Our Own damnit." 

Both Lucas and Elena quickly turned to me, the source of the voice. 

There I am, in all my five foot eleven inch glory, stood me at the doorway. An angry, disheveled Everett Bjorn. I could bet if looks could kill, well, rather than being 6 feet tall Lucas would be 6 feet under, considering the glare I was giving him. 

I ran a hand through my grumpy hair, the intensity of my glare growing by the second as I stalked my way over to the table. Luke, for once, looked as if he was conceding defeat to me, "I didn't mean anything by it, sorry lil' bro." 

Luke offered a worried smile to compensate, a little more than concerned for his current health. I’m not exactly a pretty person when I’m mad, not to mention my following on AO3 is strong enough to be an army. I will never allow an insult to my domain.

I made a noise akin to a low growl (embrace your wild side kids, actually don’t that’s dangerous be responsible), "Whatever, just don't do it again. For your sake." I added a bit of stinging spite to each pronounced word, for dramatic effect. Luke visibly flinched but waved me off, rude. 

“Just eat dude,” Lucas motioned to a plate filled up with carbs and protein, “You have conditioning today, don’t you?”

“Yeah, sadly. Coach always makes sure to work me extra hard for some reason,” Ughhh the thought was already making my…. everything hurt, I add with a pout, “It’s so cruel.” 

Either way I sat down and nearly scarfed down my food, despite wanting to delay going to school. Elly was softly tugged at her blazer’s sleeves, probably just as unhappy as me, though for different reasons. She inwardly sighed, I remember being a freshman in highschool and it was a rather nerve-binding phenomena. Oh man, look at me with the classy language. 

“Elly,” I officially shifted my attention to her from my food, pausing from eating, “you’ll be fine ya know.”

Elly looked up from her sleeves almost doubting, “Are you sure?”

My poor baby sister.

I giver her one of my iconic cheesy smiles, “I’m positive, b’sides, if anythin’ happens your big bros will rescue ya!” 

Elena giggled softly to herself, “What about Axel?” she hummed, almost to annoy me. Where did all this sass come from?

Regardless I abruptly stood up from his seat, ready to scold her for even mentioning such a….such a hooligan!

“Don’t even think-”

“Of course, Elena,” Luke interrupted slightly- no, extremely- smug, knowing when she was hinting at, “Grayson will protect you too.”

Elly smiled, the one corner of her mouth twitching up slightly to a smirk, “That’s great!”

And there was me, exasperated from my spot at the table. But am I going to let them get to me like this? Hell no. I decided to ignore it. They would continue to push the point anyways if I even tried to argue. 

“I’m gonna go brush teeth,” I declare before excusing myself from the table.

From my peripheral vision I could see Elly and Luke share worried glances. Ha, of course they know me all too well. I hear the rest of the convo faintly as I walk off stage right.

“Did….did we go too far?” Elly softly asked Luke.

“I honestly don’t know. Maybe something happened?” 

“I dunno…” she softly trailed off.

Sometimes I hate how well my siblings know me.

~~~~

Pah, Axel Grayson tryna steal my job, protecting my sweet little sister? The nerve of it all. 

I quickly made my way back to the bathroom to brush teeth, getting over the mention of friggin’ Axel Grayson. Beelining for the toothbrush, I accidentally knocked over a towel rack in my haste. FU- no Ev, calm. Zen. Calm. FUCK THAT HURT UGH. My HIP. MY POOR HIP.

…. Whatever. Dagnabit. I clutched my right hip; proceeding to ever so very SLIGHTLY wobble the remainder of the distance.

When I finally reached the smooth surface of the sink counter top, I immediately grabbed the cheap toothbrush out of its cup in the corner. I let out the breath I was unconsciously holding, and squeezed the tube of minty toothpaste onto the brush.

Humming a somewhat random tune to myself, I brought the toothbrush up to my mouth and began the trice-a-day ritual of brushing teeth.

Welp, I’m dead.

I quickly realized humming wasn’t such a great idea; toothpaste had gotten down my throat in a way more than unpleasant manner. Coughing like a sick cow while looking at myself literally choke to death in the mirror, I somehow managed leaned forward to spit and rinse.

After wiping off my face with the fluffy towel that was ungracefully lying on the tile floor to my left, I decided to casually check my watch.

Shit. It’s already 5:50.

I scrambled and grabbed my backpack from its spot on the floor of my bedroom and sprinted out down the hall. Yelling quick ‘see ya later’s as I passed the house assistants, I quite literally skidded to a halt before the front door to pull on my (ugly) shoes. I started his run again (almost tripping over myself and getting crushed by my giant backpack in the process) and managed to catch the large grey-blue bus before it left.

As soon as I saw the terrible vehicle known as a school bus, I slowed my sprint to a moderate jog before eventually walking as I approached the damned Bus 14. I rubbed the back of his neck, lightly teasing my back hair, I offered an apologetic smile to the devil of a bus driver and a soft ‘sorry.’ Backpack now in front of me (practically acting as a shield from these hooligans), I walked down the single aisle of the bus and took my usual seat next to Elly. Bleh, I pouted on realizing I didn’t have my usual window seat, but my attention was quickly turned away to a few casual friends calling out ‘hello’s and ‘what’s up Ev’s’. I shimmied and shifted in my seat to locate these (minorly annoying) sources before replying with my own gracious greetings, elbow on display on the head of the seat.

OW. ELLY. Damn her elbow HURTS. I got the hint though, settling back into my seat regularly.

“Blehhh Elly you didn’t have to jab so hard ya know? And when did you get so strong? I swear, what happened to the cute lil’ sis I used to have.” I rubbed my throbbing side for emphasis.

“Ev just quiet down and enjoy the bus ride.”

“Cries, fine. You win.”

I leaned back into the stiff grey seat best I could, trying to get somewhat comfortable, closing my eyes and listening to the familiar sound of the purring bus engine and chattering of teenagers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the original CH1 i wrote like an eternity ago everything was in 3rd POV, so going through and changing everything to 1POV was a pain in the butt haha, but it's done!
> 
> All comments, criticisms, and support are super appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> these are characters ive developed with my heart and soul, ive worked very hard on them and i hope it shows in the story through their actions and words.
> 
> i appreciate all support, and any critique/advice given! im a casual/noob writer so please bear with me <3


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